One of the leading causes of death and disability worldwide, sepsis is notoriously difficult to diagnose in the early stages and treat once it becomes life-threatening. Currently, broad-spectrum antibiotics are used to attack the pathogen causing the reaction. But the number of antibiotic-resistant pathogens that can trigger sepsis is increasing. 

This is the “nightmare that keeps my colleagues working in public health awake at night,” one doctor said to The Telegraph. But scientists at Australia’s Griffith University are now close to unlocking the first specific sepsis treatment. A recent Phase II human clinical trial in China shows “promising results in reducing sepsis,” said Science Daily. This is a “major step forward.”

What’s sepsis? 
It’s the body’s extreme response to an infection. The immune system overreacts, triggering inflammation that can damage tissues and organs. Untreated, sepsis can quickly lead to septic shock and multiple organ failure. Anyone can develop sepsis, but it’s most prevalent among the young, elderly, diabetic and immunocompromised, as well as women who have recently given birth. 

If treated swiftly, the patient can make a full recovery. But the longer the wait for a diagnosis, the higher the risk. Sepsis causes more than 10 million deaths a year worldwide — equivalent to one life lost every three seconds. 

How is it diagnosed? 
Sepsis is often called the silent killer because it has widely varying symptoms. Warning signs in a child can mirror less serious conditions and include fever, chills, lethargy, elevated heart rate or breathing, blotchy skin, and a rash that doesn’t fade. Adults may experience slurred speech or confusion, shivering, mottled skin, severe breathlessness and a feeling of doom. There’s no single diagnostic test; multiple tests (that typically take hours) are needed to confirm the presence and possibly type of infection. 

What’s the new drug? 
Known as STC3141, it works by “calming” and counteracting the “major biological molecule release” that occurs during the body’s immune overreaction. This helps with “reversing the damage to organs rather than only managing symptoms,” said Science Daily. 

The research team behind the drug is now planning Phase III effectiveness trials. “We could see the treatment reach the market in a handful of years, potentially saving millions of lives,” said team leader Mark von Itzstein.

In recent weeks, Instagram and TikTok feeds have seemingly turned into time machines as people openly yearn for a simpler, more colorful era of the internet. The social media trend has people reminiscing about 10 years ago, when everyone was obsessed with Snapchat filters, VSCO girls ruled, and the internet was generally less toxic.

‘Golden age of memes’
This year kicked off with 2016 “making a comeback” as users began to “flood Instagram with throwback posts reminiscing about what they viewed as an iconic year for popular culture and the internet,” said NBC News. The trend has resurfaced “grainy images of acai bowls and sunsets,” along with skinny jeans and choker necklaces, said The New York Times. 

The “2026 is the new 2016” trend can be traced back to an “ironic Gen Z joke that turned into a sincere movement” known as the Great Meme Reset, in which TikTokers “pined for the good old days, before the web became infested with AI-generated brainrot,” said Forbes. The Meme Reset proposed that social media users “reset” the internet by “posting classic memes to drown out low-effort engagement bait.” The year 2016 was chosen as the “golden age of memes, right before the perceived decline.”

Pining for yesteryear
The yearning for 2016 has also drawn scrutiny against younger users who “recall little of the era or arrived on the tail end of it” and whom “some older generations accuse of taking too rosy an outlook.” While some are “simply nostalgic for their younger years,” much of the focus is on the “perceived innocence” of 2016, said Forbes. The internet wasn’t as “bright and cheerful as it’s being remembered,” but it wasn’t “quite as gamified and monetized as it is today.”

Still, all this “rosy Coachella-flower-crowned nostalgia elides” that 2016 was “chock-full of horrors, too,” said Andrea González-Ramírez at The Cut. Even if the “VSCO filters were cute,” the “vibes in 2016 were pretty rancid.”

It was also the year that President Donald Trump was elected over Hillary Clinton, signaling a major shift in the political atmosphere. The world has become a “scarier, more challenging and more divided place over the past decade,” said González-Ramírez. But in many ways, including that Trump is “back in office pursuing his agenda more aggressively than in his first term,” we “never left 2016.”

A model navigates a mishmash of memorabilia on a runway at Milan Fashion Week. Italian brand Diesel’s show featured 50,000 pieces of “party regalia,” from animal statues and balloons to sex toys and beer bottles.
Miguel Medina / AFP / Getty Images

Nonstop flights help start and end trips on a high note. There are fewer stressors, like not having to worry about tight connections or if your suitcase will make it on the next plane. Plus, you save time by not having to wait around the airport for the next leg of your journey. Ready for takeoff on these new routes? 

Alaska Airlines: Seattle (SEA) to Rome (FCO)
For its first foray into Europe, Alaska Airlines is heading to Rome, with daily, seasonal summer service beginning April 28. Rome was one of the most requested nonstop destinations from Seattle customers, said the airline, and flight frequency was bumped up from four times a week to daily due to travel demand. 

Delta Airlines: Atlanta (ATL) to Riyadh (RUH)
Traveling from Delta’s hub in Atlanta to Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh will be both a “historic” and “strategic move reshaping global aviation routes,” said Fortune. Delta is the first U.S. airline to offer direct service to Saudi Arabia, starting Oct. 23.

Starlux: Phoenix (PHX) to Taipei (TPE)
This nonstop flight from Phoenix to Taipei (pictured above) links the two capitals for the first time. Flights take off three times a week, with passengers boarding Airbus A350-900 planes that have four “ultra-lavish” first-class seats and 26 lie-flats with direct aisle access, said Condé Nast Traveler. Upon arrival, travelers can hit the ground running, visiting the Longshan Temple and Elephant Mountain and stopping to enjoy “world-famous street food.”